Oakland Neglect & Abuse Lawyer

If you or someone you care about has survived abuse or neglect while at their most vulnerable, you and your family have the right to seek justice. Children, disabled people and elderly individuals rely on the care and protection of parents, schools, nursing care providers, and other individuals and entities. When that reliance is betrayed, either through negligence or deliberate acts of abuse, you have the right, and the obligation, to fight back. The Oakland abuse & neglect lawyers at Venardi Zurada are here to help you recover against abusive foster parents, negligent nursing homes, and ineffectual governmental agencies for the harm that their actions and inactions have caused you and your family.

The Difference Between Neglect and Abuse

Neglect and abuse are often lumped together for the purposes of nursing home abuse, child abuse, malpractice, and other types of injury claims. The personal injury attorneys at Venardi Zurada represent victims of both negligence and abuse in a variety of forms, seeking compensation for the injuries they suffer as a result. There are, however, important distinctions between the two.

Neglect refers to a violation of a duty of care owed to another person. When a person takes in a foster child, for example, they are taking on the normal duties of parentage. Parents are responsible for keeping their children fed, sheltering them, and protecting them against foreseeable harm. Nursing homes and other long-term care facilities are responsible for ensuring that residents under their care get proper nutrition and hydration, that they get the medical treatment they need, and that they are regularly observed to ensure that they do not get hurt by external forces or themselves. Failing to give nursing home residents the food and liquid they need, failing to check on them and move them to avoid bedsores, or failing to respond to obvious medical issues would all be a violation of the duty of care that nursing homes owe residents, and would thus constitute neglect. Likewise, subjecting children to malnutrition or dehydration could be a form of child neglect.

Abuse, on the other hand, concerns deliberate acts of harm perpetrated against vulnerable individuals. Foster home parents who abuse their wards, nursing home staff who attack, belittle, or sexually molest their patients, and anyone else who deliberately harms the very people they are charged with protecting and caring for must be held accountable for their wrongdoing. Abuse can be physical, such as by punching, kicking, choking, or shaking residents. Abuse can also be emotional or psychological, such as by demeaning, threatening, or deliberately ignoring elderly nursing home residents.

Representing Abused Children, Disabled, and Elderly Victims

The abuse and neglect attorneys at Venardi Zurada represent the survivors of abuse and negligence, regardless of the nature of the client and the specifics of the conduct. Our dedicated areas of practice include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Nursing Home Injuries and Abuse – The neglect and abuse attorneys at Venardi Zurada represent victims of nursing home abuse and neglect. If your elderly or disabled loved one appears to be suffering from malnutrition, dehydration, unexplained injuries, sudden mental decline, bedsores, or other indicators of nursing home abuse or neglect, the Oakland nursing home negligence attorneys at Venardi Zurada can help you protect your family and recover compensation.
• Foster Home Abuse – Every year, thousands of children are placed into foster care. Unfortunately, not every foster parent is in it for the right reasons. Many foster parents either neglect their wards or perpetrate acts of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. The state agencies that govern California’s foster care system may be just as responsible for these acts of abuse through their own negligence and inaction. If you were abused in a foster home as a child, the Oakland abuse and neglect attorneys at Venardi Zurada could help you seek justice against your abusers and anyone else responsible for the harm you have suffered. Recovery might be available even if the abuse occurred many years ago.

Call for Help With a Neglect or Abuse Injury Claim in Oakland

If you or someone you love has been the victim of abuse or neglect while in a vulnerable state, reach out to a compassionate and understanding Oakland neglect and abuse lawyer at Venardi Zurada, LLP. We can help you protect your loved ones and seek the justice that you and your family deserve. We fight to take abusers and their enablers to task, even if a long time has passed. To arrange a free consultation, call 833-893-6763 or contact us online.

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